This gallery contains photos Barry took while diving on
Australia's Great Barrier Reef in early April. I'd never taken photos
underwater before. But on a NZ dive earlier in the year I'd seen a number
of folks with digital cameras in waterproof housings. This eliminated some
of the biggest obstacles to underwater photography -- heavy equipment, having to
wait to see the pictures after they were developed, and being limited by the
amount of film in the camera. Digitals make it costless to take many, many
shots, and you can see them right away. I invested in a housing for my
digital (an Internet retailing saga all its own) and used it on this trip for
the first time. It was awesome! I won't be winning any awards, but
as the week wore on I began to feel more confident in how to use the camera to
catch the critters. Judge for yourself. Click on any photo see a larger version, then click
"Back" on your browser window to return to this page. Make sure
not to miss the two videos included at the bottom; you will need RealPlayer to
view them properly.
These photos were taken while I was on a "liveaboard" ship
cruising the reef. This was my first experience with a dive trip like
this, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The original plan was to
dive a few days of the week on the GRB, then steam overnight further into the
Coral Sea to Osprey Reef. This is a mid-ocean reef that is famous for big
ocean going fish and spectacular drop-offs. But though the weather was
clear the entire week, we were visited by steady, day in-day out 25-30 km/hr
winds from the south. The skipper canned the Osprey Reef trip, saying the
passage would be too rough and the conditions once there would not be
comfortable. So we cruised the in-shore side of the reef, moving from
south to north and back. Most nights we traveled to a new spot,
anchored, and started immediately in the morning. Some days we had to move
during the day to find better conditions, and most days we dived a couple of
sites. Because of the weather we dived some sites more than once.
There were between 4 and 6 dives a day. We'd be
awakened at 6:30 am to find a continental breakfast buffet with toast, dry
cereal and coffee. Then into the water for the first dive around 7:30 am.
Each dive was typically from 45 minutes to an hour. The water temperature
was very mild, and we wore 3mm wetsuits that kept us pretty toasty. Few
dives were deeper than 65 feet, and most were around 45 ft, which meant that air
could last a long time. On return we were treated to a full hot breakfast.
Around 9:30 or 10:00 it was back in the water. Lunch, usually hot,
followed. Then one or two afternoon dives, a hearty snack mid-afternoon,
sometimes a dusk or night dive, and a big dinner. The food was much better
than I expected -- varied styles, huge portions, plenty of fresh ingredients.
My fellow 12 divers were from all over -- Germany, the UK,
Australia, Canada. Some were very experienced, some relative novices.
Quite a few of us were taking pictures, and I buddied up with one of the other
photographers, which was fun for us both because we were constantly hanging
around a single spot trying to get a shot.
The steady winds and choppy water took its toll on some of
the divers, who were queasy a good deal of the time. I was afraid I'd be
among them, but the meds I took must have worked. I had some queasiness,
but no sickness and I ate heartily the whole trip. The overnight ride back
to Cairns on the last night was like a sleigh ride, bucking the southerly wind
and the waves for about 8 hours.
Great Barrier Reef from the air
We flew from Cairns, Queensland's adventure sport capital, to Cooktown to meet our boat. The planes were 7-seaters, flew at about 500 feet, and provided the most excitement of the whole trip.
Nimrod Explorer
Our ship
The Dive Deck
Located at the back of the ship, this was where we kept and donned and doffed all equipment, and entered and exited the water
On the surface, ready to dive
Blue Chromis
Coral and Butterflyfish
Coral Garden
Clark's Anemone Fish
Cuttlefish
These are related to squid. Seeing one out in the open just swimming along was awesome!
Giant Clam
Maybe a full metre from end to end.
Clark's Anemone Fish
Sweetlips
Noticie the smaller fish near the mouth. They swim in and clean the fish when it comes to the "cleaning station" and assumes the right position.
Chromis swarming in coral
Corals
The animals are the high-voltage kick for me on a dive, but the corals, especially on these dives, have a beauty of their own.
Batfish
Dive buddy Paul
More Blue Chromis
Coral overhang
Coral Cod
Potato Cod
At Cod Hole the crew offered food to the resident swarm of Potato Cod. These are big babies, as you can see, and we were organized in a circle kneeling on the sand and the divemaster came around to each of us and offered the food. The fish come barrelling right at it (and the diver). There were also swarms of other fish who were along for the scraps.
Red Bass and Treveally Jacks
These fish swarm around the Potato Cods and flash in for scraps.
Potato Cod
White Tip Reef Shark
We saw sharks on many of the dives. One diver logged 15 sitings in 21 dives! This one was hanging around Cod Hole; we saw him while touring around the site after the feeding.
